Deeplinks Blog posts about Cyber Security Legislation

The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S 3414) Defeated in Senate Vote this Morning

This morning, the US Senate defeated the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, a bill that would have given companies new rights to monitor our private communications and pass that data to the government. The bill sponsors were 8 votes short of the 60 votes necessary to end debate on the bill (vote breakdown here). This is a victory for Internet freedom advocates everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of individuals emailed, tweeted, called, and sent Facebook messages to Senators asking them to defend privacy in the cybersecurity debate. Those voices were heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress today. EFF extends our heartfelt thanks to everyone who fought with us on this issue.

The Senate is about to vote on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 – perhaps even as early as tomorrow. So we’re in a last push to get concerned Internet users to speak out for privacy before the big vote. If you want to ensure that we don’t compromise our rights to speak and communicate online privately, then please tweet and call your Senators. And now you can do one more thing: post a note on your Senators’ Facebook profiles. Leave comments asking them to stand up for your privacy in the cybersecurity debates. Comments might read something like:

This weekend, we launched a tool that lets you tweet messages directly to your senators about privacy dangers of the cybersecurity bills. And last night we heard from staffers on the Hill that they are receiving tons of tweets. Unlike phone calls, which are tallied at the end of every day, tweets are seen the moment they’re tweeted. That means we have a direct, powerful method of telling senators to defend individual privacy as they move to consider the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 this week.

Visit Stop Cyber Spying to tweet at your senators. And if you run a website, please use the code at the bottom of this page to embed our Twitter tool on your site. Use the hashtag #DefendPrivacy to join thousands who have already spoken out for civil liberties.

This week, the Senate will be voting on a slew of amendments to the newest version of the Senate’s cybersecurity bill. Senators John McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison have proposed several amendments that would hand the reins of our nation’s cybersecurity systems to the National Security Agency (NSA). All of the cybersecurity bills that have been proposed would provide avenues for companies to collect sensitive information on users and pass that data to the government. Trying to strike the balance between individual privacy and facilitating communication about threats is a challenge, but one thing is certain: the NSA has proven it can’t be trusted with that responsibility. The NSA's dark history of repeated privacy violations, flouting of domestic law, and resistance to transparency makes it clear that the nation's cybersecurity should not be in its hands.